In this film, Russian writer-director Alexander Rogozhkin has conceived an ingenious exercise in storytelling, which is also a jolting reminder of the nearly limitless possibilities of cinema. The story is set near the end of World War II, September 1944, somewhere in the desolate wilds of northwestern Europe, just days before Finland, an ally of Nazi Germany, dropped out of the war. Veiko (Ville Haapasalo), a reluctant Finnish sniper, is shackled and his chains nailed to a large rock by fellow soldiers as punishment for his lack of enthusiasm for fighting.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.